Essex Property Trust (ESS) Competitors

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, community ranking, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Do analysts rate ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus target price of $297.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.58%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus target price of $226.88, suggesting a potential downside of 1.11%. Given AvalonBay Communities' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AvalonBay Communities is more favorable than Essex Property Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essex Property Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.26
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.39

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, ESS or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Essex Property Trust. AvalonBay Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essex Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essex Property Trust	$1.67B	11.62	$405.83M	$8.56	35.25
AvalonBay Communities	$2.77B	11.79	$928.83M	$7.31	31.38

Does the media prefer ESS or AVB?

In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 7 more articles in the media than Essex Property Trust. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 11 mentions for Essex Property Trust. Essex Property Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 0.44 indicating that Essex Property Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essex Property Trust	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AvalonBay Communities	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ESS or AVB more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 36.20% compared to Essex Property Trust's net margin of 31.55%. Essex Property Trust's return on equity of 9.72% beat AvalonBay Communities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essex Property Trust	31.55%	9.72%	4.36%
AvalonBay Communities	36.20%	8.84%	4.98%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust received 54 more outperform votes than AvalonBay Communities when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.45% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 56.46% of users gave Essex Property Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essex Property Trust	Outperform Votes 725 56.46%	Underperform Votes 559 43.54%
AvalonBay Communities	Outperform Votes 671 60.45%	Underperform Votes 439 39.55%

Which has more risk & volatility, ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of ESS or AVB?

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is ESS or AVB a better dividend stock?

Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $9.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Essex Property Trust pays out 114.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 93.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essex Property Trust has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Essex Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats Essex Property Trust on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.